How to Be a Tudor

A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Tudor Life

By: Ruth Goodman

Narrated by: Heather Wilds

On the heels of her triumphant How to Be a Victorian, Ruth Goodman travels even further back in English history to the era closest to her heart, the dramatic period from the crowning of Henry VII to the death of Elizabeth I.

Drawing on her own adventures living in re-created Tudor conditions, Goodman serves as our intrepid guide to 16th-century living. Proceeding from daybreak to bedtime, this charming, illustrative work celebrates the ordinary lives of those who labored through the era. From sounding the "hue and cry" to alert a village to danger to malting grain for homemade ale, from the gruesome sport of bear-baiting to cuckolding and cross-dressing - the madcap habits and revealing intimacies of life in the time of Shakespeare are vividly rendered for the insatiably curious.

©2016 Ruth Goodman. First American Edition 2016. Recorded by arrangement with Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. (P)2016 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"If the past is a foreign country, we’re lucky to have such a knowledgeable cicerone as Ruth Goodman." ( Wall Street Journal)

Emotionless narrator leaves a bit to be desired

Other than the slightly robotic narrator, the book was very good. I really enjoy Ruth Goodman and the Tudor time period.

Great listen!

Illuminating and humorous, thanks to Ruth Goodman for another winner! I definitely recommend to anyone who wants to delve deeper into Tudor life. Much more information than a typical novel set in the time period.

Fascinating

Entertaining and very interesting. The author’s living history experience brings the subject to life. The narrator’s voice is a bit dreary but not distractingly so

Ruth is my favorite

She is the ideal historian for me! Being revolved around homemaking, cooking, and English History, she is all that and more wrapped up into one very intelligent, fun and overall perfect go to for Tudor life!

so informing!

it was so cool to read/hear how thinks were done back then. I want to hear more!

Everyday Life

For anyone who wonders about history beyond wars and the real stories behind tv dramas this is a good starting point to understanding the people of Tudor times.

Great book — confused by ending

The author’s experience with Tudor period practices — from knotting silk braid to making ale — made this book great fun. I was enjoying it, and coming to the end of the day with sleep, when the book seemed to suddenly end. Did they run out of studio time or something? Weird. But the rest of it is great!

for history lovers of the common

informative, accessible and entertaining. highly recommended for anyone interested in late medieval period, and "regular" peoples' lives and living.

Charming Book, Charming Narrator

Spaced over a day in the life of Tudor England, this delightful book takes us through such topics as personal hygiene, food preparation, work, social relations, worship, and sex. Learning about how hard the average Tudor individual worked made me feel lazy and spoiled. I must defend the narrator, Heather Wilds, from the charge of being a "robotic" reader. She has a beautiful voice and charming style. How much drama could you bring to a section on the varieties of wheat, or a detailed description of plowing techniques?

Interesting

Interesting book. I learned a lot. The authors descriptions were excellent and benefited from her personal experience with some of the subjects such as hygiene methods and the making of ale. I wish it had a better narrator. The narrator delivered the book in a sing song way which I could only listen to for short periods of time.